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We might live in a modern world, but religion is still pulling plenty of strings out there, and most famous atheists in the world show us that things don’t have to be like that. Many people would agree that the spiritual matters shouldn’t be forced upon general population and that religious institutions and clergy shouldn’t be allowed to have any impact on any country’s government. Still, these situations are ever-present around the globe – especially in turbulent areas where people often cling to religion as their last resort. Atheism doesn’t recognize God, and atheists themselves are often perceived as highly educated, emancipated and independent. That’s mostly because they are. While they might defy God, they still can’t do anything to defy the natural forces. At least not like these 11 architectural wonders that seem to defy gravity.

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Show business, politics, business, scientific circles and many more fields are mostly made out of both religious and non-religious people. A vast number of them are non-religious which would mean that they are atheists. But who are atheists, after all? They are people that don’t believe in the existence of deities – period. Every religion has its own deity, and atheism has none. It isn’t a religion at all. It’s just a term used to recognize those people standing firmly on their ground – when it comes to spiritual matters, at least.

Now that we have established who atheists are (even though you all knew that already), we’ll move on to bring you the list of 20 most famous atheists in the world. Before we start, however, bear in mind the fact that, like every matter spiritual, one’s belief doesn’t have to be determined and sealed. People change opinions, and many atheists have become believers (theists) over the years and vice versa. Russian President Vladimir Putin is a fine example of a former atheist converting to Orthodox Christianity, while Brad Pitt, on the other hand, is now a proud atheist (more like agnostic) even though his upbringing was religious. Take this info with the pinch of salt – especially when politicians are concerned. It might be popularity that drives them. Also, pay attention to a difference between atheists and agnostics. While former disregard any chance of deity’s existence, latter take a slightly more moderate approach and acknowledge that a god might exist. They can’t prove that fact, however, and they can’t prove that the god doesn’t exist at the same time. Our list will only mention pure atheists as differences between these two groups of people (while seeming insignificant), are quite large. As far as determining who of these countless celebrities are the most famous goes – we have decided to rate them equally. We have also striven to deliver you a combined list of both alive and, well, rather not so alive atheists. So, without any particular order, here’s our list of 18 most famous atheists in the world – whether still among us, or long gone from this Earth.